Dentist Help Children and Uninsured With Free Dental Care and Services

A number of area Kinney Drugs stores will offer free dental health screenings for children entering kindergarten and grades 2, 4, 7 and 10 this fall.

Local volunteer dentists will be on site at select stores from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 7 to provide dental exams and dental health certificates. The exams will identify open cavities, painful conditions or anything that could interfere with students’ ability to attend school.

DeGroote retired after 23 years working as an oral surgeon in the area and now volunteers once a week at the St. Mary Dental Clinic, which operates out of donated space by St. Mary Catholic Church’s Tileston Building.

Four Jackson County dentists are teaming up with dental professionals across the state to provide free care to children whose families cannot afford to pay for it.

Drs. Jack Beardsley, Deb Christopher, Kevin Dunlavey and Paul Roggow are currently scheduling appointments for Friday, Feb. 6, in accordance with the program.

The Minnesota Dental Association sponsors the statewide outreach effort, called “Give Kids a Smile.” Now in its seventh consecutive year, the program has provided free dental care to more than 30,000 children. About 200 clinics across the state will open their doors for this program on Feb. 6 and 7.

KUSA – Give Kids a Smile is an opportunity for families with no dental insurance to have their children checked and treated for free.

On this day, 850 dentists in Colorado with join thousands of dentists nationwide in volunteering their services to help deserving children. It is estimated more than 4,000 uninsured children in Colorado will benefit from this effort.

Appointments are required. Free cleanings and sealants are being offered through the Community College of Denver of Dental Hygiene (CCD).

This day-long event will be held at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine dental clinic. In addition, 40 children from a Cleveland HeadStart program will receive free restorative care in the Tapper Pediatric Dental Center in Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital.

As a part of the Florida Dental Association’s (FDA) Project: Dentists Care (PDC) program, Florida dentists will hold several Give Kids a Smile (GKAS) events throughout Children’s Dental Health Month in February.

Supported in part by the Florida Dental Health Foundation, the events will provide free dental care and information to thousands of children throughout Florida.

“It is great to have dentists, hygienists, assistants and other volunteers coming together to provide dental care to children whose families would not otherwise be able to afford it,” said PDC President Dr. Natalie Carr. “Last year, more than $1 million in dental care was provided to disadvantaged children. We hope to once again meet this goal in 2009.”

NORTHUMBERLAND – A local hygienist has something to enhance that Valentine’s smile.

Dental hygienist Mary Ito, along with 22 other independent registered dental hygienists in the province, is offering free teeth cleaning on Saturday, Feb. 14, for those who cannot afford to regularly receive dental service and who have no dental insurance.

‘A Gift from the Heart’ offers a free dental cleaning, with fluoride if necessary, and oral hygiene instruction, on a first-come, first-serve basis. Ms. Ito will open her doors at the Northumberland Dental Hygiene Clinic, 297 Division St., Cobourg, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Two rooms will be open for services, and in a third, a student and a hygienist will offer information on oral hygiene.